Hamburgers @ AM/PM Cafe, USJ 21, Subang Jaya

A good patty with buns always satisfies. And being so simple, it is a platform for various degrees of customization. With a little bit of ingenuity and a dash of imagination, the humble burger can be skyrocketed to parts unknown. If you would like to have your burgers a bit more special than the standard fare, chances are you would like what AM/PM has to offer.

Simple yet cozy. 

Tucked in the middle of surburbia, AM/PM cafe is  local cafe tucked located in the quaint parts USJ 21. And being a local cafe, it has a cozy and comfortable feel to it. It is not those caffeine checkpoints you see in Bangsar or Mont Kiara. It has less electricity and feels more relaxed. But that does not mean to say the food cannot compare to the ones that are more well known by the avant garde side of town and the expat community. In fact, it is famous for its pasta and breakfast dishes. But to me personally, it is the burgers that I would come back for. As such, it will be the focus of the show today. Being the focus of this post, one burger is no enough. So, I enlisted the help of my family to assess the premises. Yup, this is sometimes the modus operandi in this house hold. 

First for the day

My father being slightly conservative, went for the grilled chicken with pineapple burger called the Hawaiian Chicken. it was alright, the chicken was grilled nicely and the pineapple gave it a zesty punch with a sweet after tone. Imagine a Hawaiian pizza in a burger and you would probably get the idea. Simple but my old man was quite satisfied. My brother struck gold with the soft shell crab burger.

Real indulgence right here!

Inside this behemoth was an entire deep fried soft shell crab. And it was soaked with salted egg sauce. Crunchy and savoury on the outside, while light and decadent on the inside, it sounds as sinful as it looks. Every element fit perfectly and the vegetables between the bun gave it some contrast and was able to cut out the grease the ensued. This was a a real treasure from the sea.

Here lies a hidden treasure. 

I on the other hand got another interesting item off the menu called the "Mario's Special". It looked like a simple beef burger on the outside, but it was what was deep within that counts. But it was not the patty. Instead it was a upper bun that had a interesting filling. It was filled with a cheese and mushroom sauce.

I have struck gold!

I kid you not, it was a bun stuffed with a very indulgent walloping of cream sauce.  And being such, it was one of those moments I committed the worst sin of dining: eating a burger with a fork and knife. Eating was a challenge, but the one I willingly take with zero duress. The bun was superb and being stuffed with that special sauce, it was really bizarre, in a good way. 

So much going on here. Its just divine. 

The  mushrooms in the sauce gave it more variety in terms of texture and flavour. The beef patty that came with it was nice too and well cooked. But when that cheesy cream sauce is slathered onto that juicy home made patty, it was something really special.

Carbonara. Simple. Still decent though. 

Of course, being a place famous for its pasta, we had to try one bowl right? So we had the turkey carbonara. As this is a halal outlet, no pork is here this time. It was good, but like most non-pork carbonara, it will not be as good as the real deal. Still worth ordering though.If you are up for some appetizers, I recommend the mushroom soup.  It was creamy and fulfilling Definitely not something out of a can. 

Great after a long day at work 

Overall, AM/PM is somewhere I really recommend going for its food. Its good value for money with pastas being around RM15-20 and the burgers are within the RM20-25 range. And the burgers come with a  side of fries or wedges. And if you like, you can top up for RM2 to have sweet potato fries instead. 

Front of the house. 

I have yet to try the coffee there, although the menu on top of the cafe bar counter seems promising. Who knows? Maybe a second review just for their java will be up soon. However, if you are not keen on waiting in getting my opinion on the caffeinated concoctions, or you would want to have a biteful of those delicious burgers, the address is as follows:

11A, Jalan USJ 21/5, Subang Jaya.